El Paso County officials introduced two fellows hosted through the International City/County Management Association’s Young Southeast Asian Leaders Initiative (YSALI), a U.S. Department of State professional exchange program, and described planned county activities during the fellows’ four‑week placements.

County administration said the fellows — Carmela Joan Trianez (Philippines) and Sirilek (spelled in transcript several ways; Cambodia) — will be hosted by the county and Texas A&M AgriLife Extension from Sept. 29 through Oct. 24. Both fellows specialize in agriculture, climate resilience and community capacity building.

Carmela Trianez described work on digital agriculture and disaster resilience for smallholder farmers and said she hopes to learn about local government policy design and implementation in El Paso. Sirilek said she works in agricultural engineering for Cambodia’s Ministry of Agriculture and seeks to deepen knowledge of climate‑smart practices, water‑saving techniques and community resource management.

County leaders said the exchange will include visits with county agriculture and climate teams, the extension service and selected county departments; they framed the visit as both an opportunity to learn from the fellows’ experience in Southeast Asia and to share local approaches to dry‑climate agriculture.

The court did not vote on the presentation; commissioners and staff welcomed the fellows and encouraged departmental collaboration.